Myanmar Facts for Kids

Myanmar, formally known as Burma is a country located in the South East of Asia.

It is bordered to the west by Bangladesh and India, bordered to the east by Laos and Thailand and bordered by China to the north.

Archeological evidences in form of cave paintings and polished stone tools suggest that the country has been inhabited as early as 1500 BC.

The country was colonized by Britain and the colonial rule lasted from 1824 to 1948

its official language is Burmese

Kachin, Kayah, Karen, Chin, Mon, Rakhine, and Shan are also well spoken in the country as regional languages.

The capital city of Myanmar is the well planned city of Naypyidaw.

The city houses the country’s parliament, the Supreme Court, the Presidential Palace and the official residences of the Myanmar Cabinet.

Although the country’s name was officially changed from Burma to Myanmar in 1989 by the country’s then ruling military Junta the country can still be called by its old name.

According to the 2014 census of the Burmese government, the population of the country is about 54 million people. About 83 % of the population can read and write. Buddhism constitutes about 87.9% of the people’s religion, Christianity constitutes about 6.2 %, Islam about 4.3%, and Hinduism about 0.5%, the rest of the population profess Tribal and other religions.

Myanmar is home to the world’s largest concentration of Buddhist temples, pagodas and stupas. Many of which were built in the 12th and 13th centuries under the Pagan Empire that once ruled the country.

Myanmar, Liberia and the United States of America are the only countries not to adopt the international System of Units as their official system of weights and measures.

The total surface area of the country is 676, 578 km2 , making the country slightly larger than the European countries of France and Iceland combined together. Myanmar is the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia and the 40th largest country in the world.

Myanmar has a unique home brewed national beer. The beer is so named the Myanmar Beer, apparently after the country.

The national currency of Myanmar is known as the Kyat (in case you find yourself in the country the national currency is pronounced as “chat”

About half of Myanmar is still covered with forests, the forests of Myanmar are home to an array of wild animals which includes wild fowls like parrots, pheasants, and peafowl, various kinds of deer, the Asian two-horned rhinoceros, the wild water buffalo, a species of wild cattle called the gaur, Elephants, tigers, and leopards. Bears are also found in the hilly regions of the country, gibbons and monkeys of various kinds live in the thicker parts of the forests. Snakes found in the Asian country include pythons, cobras, and vipers.

There are many diverse ethnic groups in Myanmar, the country’s government officially recognises 135 distinct ethnic nationalities, the largest being the Bamar people who account for more than half of the population and are concentrated in the Irrawaddy River valley, the Shan are the second largest ethnic group, the Kayin are the third largest ethnic group. Other ethnic group includes the shan people, karenni people, Wa people, Rakhine people, kokang people, Naga people, Akha people, Dai people, Anglo-Burmese people, Kamein, Khamti people, Jingpo people, Taron people Mro People, Guite people, the Chinese, Indians, and the mon people.

Myanmar has a coastline of almost 3000km which can be divided into three parts, the Rakhine coastal area, the Tanintharyi coastal area and the Central Delta area. Rivers such as Maya, Kaladan, Ayeyarwaddy, sittaung, Thaniwin, Ye, Dawal, Tanintharyi, Lenya flow into the coastal zones. Apart from wetland rice production, there are oil exploration activities in all of the country’s coastal region.

Myanmar is an emerging economy, the country’s economy is largely based on the processing of agricultural products, wood and wood products. The country’s main import and export partners include China, Thailand, India, Japan and Singapore.

In case you are in Myanmar and decided to visit a restaurant you should not be surprised when people start making kissing sounds. In Myanmar kissing sounds are made to get the attention of the waiter.